The Honda Group of Companies in Asia & Oceania officially introduced its newly-formed motorcycle team, “Honda Asia-Dream Racing.”
The members of this racing team have been recruited from Honda racing teams and companies across the Asia & Oceania region. Malaysian star rider Zaqhwan Zaidi will ride the CBR1000RR, competing in the Superbike class in the Motorcycle Federation of Japan (MFJ) All-Japan Road Race Championship for the 2018 season before moving into the inaugural ASB1000 class at the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) Asia Road Racing Championship in 2019.
The idea of creating a world-class motorcycle riders from the Asia & Oceania region has long been a dream of the company. With this goal in mind, Honda companies in the region have been involved in various motorsport activities to develop team members and young riders, ranging from organizing local racing programs to participating in international races–with their own team gaining promising race results at the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) in the AP250 and SS600 class, as well as the Suzuka 8-hour Endurance Race.
And with an announcement by FIM ARRC that it would add a new ASB1000 class for the 2019 season, Honda is taking a major step into world-class racing.
The team consists of mechanics and members recruited from Honda’s subsidiary companies and their racing teams across the Asia & Oceania region. Makoto Tamada, former MotoGP and World Superbike rider and team manager of the Satu Hati Honda Team Asia, will continue in his role as manager of the new Honda Asia-Dream Racing team, and Malaysian Zaqhwan Zaidi, the champion in the ARRC SS600 class for two years, was selected as the rider of the CBR1000RR SP2 machine.
Starting 2018, the team will be challenging the MFJ All-Japan Road Racing Championship (JRR) in the JSB1000 class, as well as compete in the famous Suzuka 8-hour Endurance Race. In 2019, the Honda Asia-Dream Racing team will change its focus from the JRR to the inaugural ASB1000 class in the FIM ARRC, with an ultimate goal of winning the race. In addition, the team will participate in the Suzuka 8-Hour Endurance Race and compete at some of the JRR races.
The Honda Asia-Dream Racing will strive to deliver the best race results to realize the dream of having the Honda team and riders become serious challengers in world-class motorcycle racing.